While tech startups are progressive in many ways, there’s still a serious lack of diversity in terms of race and gender, and “brogrammers” are making it difficult for members of the queer community to fit in. Connecting Unicorns aims to address these issues while positively geeking out over the latest developments in tech. As media partners DADDY is proud to offer 2 x 2 free tickets to unicorns (and unicorns’ friends/allies) interested in attending the conference – drop us a line to secure your ticket now!

If we haven’t managed to persuade you to attend the conference yet, read up on some of the talks and workshops we don’t want to miss below or find the full programme here.

Selected talks, panels and workshops

11:15 Immigration to Germany: why and how?

Lightning talk with Sarah Jansen

11:45 I am not your negro: tokenism in tech

Lightning talk with Josh Rivers

Josh Rivers confronts tech’s inability to solve every conceivable problem — at scale — except diversity and inclusion, and how tokenism in tech is doing more harm than good.

12:00 Diversity is dead

Lightning talk with Conor Kavanagh, Daniel Tóth

12:00 For absolute beginners: introduction to web development

Workshop with Midori Kocak

This workshop is aimed at people who are SCARED to code. It is not that difficult to code! Midori will talk about how the internet works, what web development is all about, and about HTML, CSS and JS. Participants will create their own profile page using basic HTML, CSS and JS coding skills.

12:00 An invisible woman: the inside story behind the microelectronic computing revolution in silicon valley

Opening Keynote with Lynn Conway

In 2015, US White House Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith raised profound questions about women’s contributions in science, engineering and math being erased from history. In this talk we explore a case study of such an erasure from the history of Silicon Valley, and deliver a very counter-intuitive sociological explanatory-conjecture about the underlying causes and effects.

12:00 Our private public lives: community policing on social media

Talk with Jillian C. York

Jillian C. York – Director for International Freedom of Expression | Electronic Frontier Foundation, co-founder of Onlinecensorship.org, a winner of the Knight News Challenge in 2014

13:00 The future of design

Talk with Andrew Doherty

Humans have come a long way from our first designs 3.3 million years ago. We are now approaching the knee of the exponential curve in the increasing capability of information technology. Everything is about to change, and much faster than we may be able to comprehend. The ERA of AI everything is upon us. What is coming, and what can we do to prepare both ourselves and our companies for the change ahead.

13:15 Sexism Sucks and it Could be Happening in your Startup

Lightning talk with Bryony Cooper

13:45 What it’s like to be a transgender in the workplace

Lightning talk with Midori Kocak

13:30 Do not Fear the Black Girl in the Slum

Talk with Allan Cudicio

When we create a product, or make art, we tend to subconsciously restrict ourselves to a few familiar themes. This talk will analyse our biases and suggest a few ways to think out of the box and get inspiration from more cultures.

15:00-17:30 Coding Workshop

Dr. Ana Peleteiro Ramallo, Humberto Corona

18:00 Recent global political trends, and their influence onto inclusion and diversity in tech and science

Everyday discrimination is discrimination no one does on purpose. Maybe it’s a comment like “Oh I didn’t know you, as a woman, are into xy (“typical guy thing”)”, jokes about blondes, handing the cheque straight to the guy instead of asking and all the other things that happen because we don’t fit into people’s expectations. Everyday discrimination is something we can learn to ignore or learn to address. In the workshop we will share examples about our own experiences and work out strategies how to deal with it. Afterwards you will have one concrete step for action to use every day.